Chapter 29: The Next Volume 1/3

Li Qingzhi has been wearing Daqi’s clothes for some time now, so he has some understanding of Daqi.

In this era, it’s a system of one husband, one wife, and multiple concubines. Men can take concubines, but Li Qingzhi knows that there are not many men who take concubines, while there are quite a few who can’t even marry a wife—there are more bachelors like Li Laogen in Miaoqian Village.

Even Zhu Qian hasn’t taken a concubine. It’s indeed rare for someone like Li Xuicai, who has two concubines.

“Mr. Li must be having a hard time…”

“Indeed,” Zhu Xunmiao couldn’t help but sigh when he thought of the large number of people in his master’s house. Fortunately, his father doesn’t take concubines!

His father doesn’t even want too many sons. After all, his father wants to pass on the wealth of the Zhu family, not divide it among a bunch of people, so that in the end, everyone has only a little money.

As for his master, for now, his master is strong and can still make money, and the family’s life is still okay. But when his master gets old, when his master’s seven children split up the family, it’s okay if some of them have potential, but those who don’t might end up impoverished.

After chatting for a while, Li Qingzhi finally understood what kind of person Li Xiucai was.

Chongcheng County has a small number of scholars, but the number of scholars is not bad. There are about twenty scholars living in the county.

Li Xiucai opened the school and opened it in such a large area because he had good knowledge and real ability.

When Li Xiucai was young, everyone even thought he could pass the examination.

But he, despite his modest family background, had a penchant for women, which prevented him from focusing on his studies. After failing the imperial examination twice, he simply opened a private school at home.

With a wife, concubines, and children to support, he had to find a way to provide for his family.

Li Xuicai had been running his private school for nearly twenty years. While he accepted many students without discrimination, he also produced several scholars. Therefore, people from the county were willing to send their children to him.

For instance, Zhu Xunmiao entered Li Xuicai’s school to study at the age of seven.

Every year, Zhu gave Li twenty taels of silver, and he also presented gifts on festivals. Li Xuicai paid special attention to teaching Zhu Xunmiao, spending time every day explaining classic texts and carefully reviewing Zhu Xunmiao’s essays.

“In that case, if I ever want to study in the future, I can go to Mr. Li Xuicai’s place,” said Li Qingzhi.

“Mr. Li still wants to study?” Zhu Xunmiao was somewhat surprised. He had read books written by Li Qingzhi, which contained many profound insights that had greatly benefited him. Subconsciously, he regarded Li Qingzhi as a formidable figure.

Li Qingzhi said, “I intend to participate in the imperial examination, but my academic skills are lacking. Therefore, I want to study in a school or find someone to guide me.”

“Mr. Li is humble,” Zhu Xunmiao said.

Seeing Zhu Xunmiao’s expression, Li Qingzhi knew that Zhu Xunmiao might have idealized him after reading his books.

However, he was telling the truth. His academic skills were indeed lacking.

Li Qingzhi did not conceal his past learning situation and said, “When I was young, I did not cherish the opportunity to study. Later, my hometown suffered calamities, and I fled in distress. After finally settling down in Miaoqian Village, I encountered misfortune again… I couldn’t even afford to eat properly before. I must thank Mr. Zhu for employing me to write books.”

After listening, Zhu Xunmiao felt somewhat disappointed, but Li Qingzhi’s frankness prevented him from getting angry. He even admired Li Qingzhi a little. Despite his circumstances, Li Qingzhi still wanted to study, while he had not cherished the opportunity to study before and had always been lazy.

Thinking of this, Zhu Xunmiao said, “Mr. Li, if you want to study, I can lend you books, and if you have any questions, you can come to me.”

“Thank you very much, Young Master Zhu,” Li Qingzhi thanked him.

The two chatted well, and Li Qingzhi mentioned Yao Zhenfu.

Zhu Xunmiao knew Yao Zhenfu: “Yao Zhenfu has been paying extra money for studying classics every year since ten years ago. He also participated in the county exam, but did not pass.”

To study classics, one had to pay seven taels of silver a year, plus the cost of buying writing materials and books, as well as Yao Zhenfu’s other expenses in the county… Mr. Yao had indeed spent a lot of money on Yao Zhenfu over the years.

Zhu Xunmiao continued, “I heard that he wanted to find a job before. I even wanted to let him manage one of my shops, but he refused.”

Three years ago, the manager of one of his shops under his name was driven away for embezzling money by falsifying accounts, so he found someone to introduce a new manager.

Knowing from the intermediary that Yao Zhenfu had approached him, he wanted Yao Zhenfu to do it, but Yao Zhenfu refused.

Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Later, one of Li Xiucai’s sons died, and Li Xiucai gave him several annotated books because of it.

As Zhu Xunmiao spoke, he suddenly realized that he had said too much in front of Li Qingzhi.

But Li Qingzhi had always been sincere, so what harm was there in saying a little more?

Zhu Xunmiao had other things to do, and he didn’t like being disturbed when he was writing. After chatting with Li Qingzhi for an hour, he left, saying before leaving, “Mr. Li, you’ve just recovered from a serious illness. You can write less for my father’s book.”

He was eager to read the following content, but Li Qingzhi looked so thin… he couldn’t possibly exploit Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi smiled and agreed.

After Zhu Xunmiao left, Li Damao and Li Ermao immediately came to call their father.

They had been instructed by Jin Xiaoye not to disturb Li Qingzhi when he was busy, but when he had free time, they would approach him.

“Dad’s little darlings, Li Damao and Li Ermao,” Li Qingzhi kissed them and talked to them for a while before letting them play on their own. He needed to write.

He had brought some toys for the two children, which were actually just pretty stones and small sticks, but the two children could play with them for a long time by throwing and catching the stones.

But this was also quite boring. Perhaps he could buy a chess set and teach them to play backgammon.

Li Qingzhi added water to the inkstone and began to grind the ink, preparing to write the next plot.

Talking to Zhu Xunmiao took quite some time. Li Qingzhi only managed to write eight hundred words that morning, but his handwriting… he noticed they had improved significantly compared to before.

Seeing that it was time for lunch, Li Qingzhi took the two children straight to the kitchen.

The steward of the Zhu family often cooked pork dishes, and today it was braised pork. Each person had a piece of pork about two fingers wide. In addition, there was a soup made from radish and oil residue, along with pickled vegetables cooked with gourds.

These were the kind of gourds like those in the story of “The Calabash Brothers,” with which almost all the people in Chongcheng County could grow. When the gourds were young, they could be eaten, and when they grew old, they could be made into calabash dippers or containers for liquor or water.

The braised pork smelled delicious, and Li Qingzhi planned to take some home for Jin Xiaoye and Li Laogen to eat. As for the meat dish for tonight, he could share it with the two children.

Just as Li Qingzhi sat down, the cook brought him a bowl of braised chicken pieces.

“What’s this?” Li Qingzhi was surprised.

The cook said, “Mr. Li, this is what the young master instructed. He said that from now on, some of their dishes should be set aside for you to nourish your body.”

After chatting with Zhu Xunmiao, Li Qingzhi went to the kitchen, where he asked the cook to make extra meat dishes whenever they cooked them and to set aside some for Li Qingzhi.